The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
Golf carts are often repurposed for use in consumer applications, e.g., repurposed as lightweight personal transportation vehicles, wherein the vehicles are modified by adding rear facing seats to accommodate additional passengers. Additionally, in various instances the existing canopy covering just the driver's cabin area, e.g., just the front seat, is replaced with a larger, longer canopy to cover the additional rear seating. In such instances, the old existing (standard size) canopy and corresponding support struts are removed and discarded and replaced with a larger, longer canopy that is supported by new and additional struts that must be mounted to the vehicle body and/or framework.
It is estimated that as many as 100,000 golf carts per year are repurposed for consumer applications having the additional rear seating. Therefore, many thousands of golf cart canopies (and corresponding support struts) are removed, discarded and replaced. The conversion is costly and environmentally unfriendly in that the removed canopies and struts must be discarded and disposed of.